


To Protect

by TheWarden



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Characters to appear in other chapters, F/M, Headcanon-heavy, Slight bits of Chris/Ashley, Warnings and a rating change may come later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-23 22:55:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4895473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWarden/pseuds/TheWarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a year since the horrible events at the lodge. One big government cover-up and being national sensations later; now they are left to try to act normal. Like nothing weird happened. </p><p>Mike and Sam, the Daring Duo, are not satisfied with that. Not if there are others who may need their help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

The government hid everything. Just like they all expected in one way or another. Their story being told to the word in only the highest of circles, and then officially twisting it as they announced that it was all just a combination of a storm, a friend off their meds, and a wolf attack. Three events coinciding at the same time to elevate a bad situation into a horrible one, and everyone and their mother believed very single word of the unbelievable story.  
Then they were debriefed. Told that if they told the truth to anyone in complete seriousness, repercussions would happen. Threats of something happening to family and friends going unspoken, but they were there. Every single one of them could see it in the eyes of the captors they found themselves with.

Of course they were made a sensation. The fake story being blown up so wide because of the sheer “coincidences” of the events that the media picked it up and ran with it. The wide range of the story completely overshadowing Hannah and Beth by quite a bit. They were all made into a national sensation for months after the incident. Towards the beginning, it was all gift baskets with food and candy, cards full of sympathies, flowers in the hospital; all of it from people they would more than likely never meet in their lives. Then there were colleges everywhere. Hounding them to the point where harassment was considered an option, and announcing that if they wanted to transfer _(or stay, in the case of their current college)_ they could do so for a full ride. So very, very, concerned with making themselves look good. 

It was bullshit. Complete bullshit, and all seven of them knew it. Everyone propping themselves up to make it seem like they were a good person even when their half-hearted sympathies and “get well!”s were only met with a stony silence. Not really caring that the smell of meat made most of them ill. They couldn’t care about the nightmares they all suffered from, or how even the simplest of words could send them into a darkness it took hours to get out of. They couldn’t even begin to care that Jessica, the “bright and bubbly homecoming queen”, had suffered the worst out of all of them. How she would scream in the night for someone to save her, how her personality was now just a shell of how she was, and how she had to check herself into a psychiatric ward not too long after they were released because she could not trust herself on her own.

No one could give an actual damn about what they were living with.  
They would never care as long as they didn’t know the real truth. Sam knew it all.

At first, she thought that she could survive well enough by pretending that everything was true. That it was all just a bunch of simple circumstances that made her world get flipped. Honestly it worked outwardly and was considered surviving the best out of all of them. Wonderful grades when she returned to school, outspoken and quirky as she was before, all of those things. Keeping the occasional feelings of emptiness to herself, and opting out of a social life _(because who knew who would finally see through her charade)_ in exchange for devoting her free time to keeping in touch with the group and making sure everyone was okay. Stepping up to the role of group mom as well as Mike stepped up to the role of group dad.

Jessica was in the ward. Painting beautiful pictures to pour her heart out to keep herself sane.

Ashley was at school with her and easier to keep an eye on in the sorority. Still as bookish as ever, but paranoia getting the best of her at times.

Emily started moving constantly and was almost impossible to keep up with.

Matt had broken up with Emily not too long after she started moving around. Instead devoting his time to becoming a nurse.

Chris was still dating Ashley despite the differences in colleges. Doing well despite his permanent limp and studying mythos alongside all of his tech studies. 

And Mike was in a dorm with Chris. Studying….whatever he was studying at that time and doing well, but obviously as distracted and a little restless as she was. Having stepped up to the plate of being the most active to getting everyone out alive just like she, and trying to cope with what he called an “emptiness” inside.

It came up in conversation over skype one night with him. Having finished a conversation with Chris, who fell asleep at his desk, and instead talked to Mike who decided to use the blond’s computer to do so. A simple conversation to be honest. Nothing more than:

 _[9/15/2017 09:27:33 PM]_ **rXckclimber:** Do you ever think about what else may be out there?  
_[9/15/2017 09:28:02 PM]_ **Chris O.:** I really don’t want to think about it. –M  
_[9/15/2017 09:28:47 PM]_ **rXckclimber:** But other people could be getting hurt. Mysteries that need to be looked into.  
_[9/15/2017 09:29:20 PM]_ **Chris O.:** Okay maybe. I feel a little empty, but why poke my head into places they don’t belong. I only have so many fingers. –M

 

It took some time to reply to that. After all, it was hard to introspect into your personality when you are scared as to what you would find, but she did it. The realization crashing upon her like a sack of bricks. All of it made sense. Considering the mother hen that she always had been.

 

 _[9/15/2017 09:47:14]_ **Chris O.:** You should see some of the things that Chris thinks he has hidden on here. -M  
_[9/15/2017 10:10:55]_ **Chris O.:** You still there?  
_[9/15/2017 10:13:02]_ **rXckclimber:** To protect others.

And that was the end of the conversation, or so she thought. 

Not even a week later and he was standing in the living room of her sorority. Talking with Ashley in the pastel blue room and trying so hard to ignore the other girls there who were being painfully obvious in trying to grab his attention. It was weird, seeing him in person after so long. Face scarred, but otherwise not having seemed to have changed in the slightest. Hair the same way, same amount of stubble, same build, everything.  
“Mike? What are you doing here?”

Her words rung out and everything went quiet. All attention on her at the top of the stairs and, there it was, the smile that could only belong to one Michael Monroe. The one that could make almost any girl go weak, and had always worked in his favor since she met him in high school during drama class. Even on her for a little bit, even if she would never admit it out loud.  
He hadn’t changed too much, at least.

“I need to talk Sam. Can we go to your room real quick?”  
The small snickers from Tiffany were audible just enough for her to hear. As was the question from Miranda which could be boiled down to: “Will she finally get laid?” _(An unfounded and unnecessary thought, in her opinion.)_

Two moments later after they went up the stairs, and there they were. In the mint green room that was hers and him sitting on her bed. Playing with a small squirrel plush she had since she was a kid. Rough hands tossing it up and catching it with small intervals of petting it and seeming to stare deep into the black buttons that made up its eyes.

“Okay Mike: What do you want?”  
She said after the silence became too much. Walking around and picking up discarded clothes to keep her busy and make it more…presentable.

“What if I said that I’m taking a break from college.”  
“I’d say you were and idiot.”

A single beat. Mind no doubt working to try to figure out the best way to word things.

“Okay, what if I said that and then said I want you to do the same?”

She almost dropped the pile of clothes in surprise. Looking back at the man with nothing less than complete confusion. Noticing that, for once, he was not looking at her and using his natural charm to make her agree. Instead he was staring at the deep, black, eyes of the plushie. Seemingly holding his breath for as long as he could before taking another small inhale. Almost……afraid of her answer?

“I thought about what you said…it made me not feel right. I was sitting in a dorm room trying to forget what I know just so I could pretend to have a normal life. I was ignoring what else might be out there and…I-I don’t know. It made me itchy. I couldn’t stay anymore so I left.”

He motioned out the window to where his car, a rusty truck lovingly called “deathtrap”, was parked.  
“I’m all packed out there. I’m….going to follow wherever stories take me and try to…make sense of them you know?”  
“….And you want me to come with?”

A small laugh escaped her lips and she set her clothes down in the hamper. Walking over to pluck the plush out of his hands and put it back on the pillow where it belong. Still thinking he was joking.

“I’m not kidding Sam.”

His eyes grew stern. Looking at her with such intenseness that was like how he became at the lodge. 

“We made a great team. I want you with me.”  
“I can’t just pack up my life Mike.”  
“You’re the one who brought all of this up! And I know you’re not satisfied here. Not after all the shit we went through… Even Em is traveling because she’s restless, and she’s not even the bravest of us.”  
A few moments of silence and then:

“Please Sam….’To protect others’….remember?”  
And that was that.  
They were all packed and in the Deathtrap that night. Not even giving the college the satisfaction of knowing beforehand. Because, all in all, he was right. They had to do this.

To protect others, right?


	2. The Next Job

The changing scenery was welcome to the both of them. Bringing a sense of peace despite the destinations that await them and the places that they had already been. Complete relaxation despite the danger, and a renewed sense of purpose that had been lost over the many months of being stagnant. Both Sam and Mike might as well have been on cloud nine to anyone who might look at them.  
A young girl haunted by a visiting “clown”: It was gone after they visited.  
Rock climbers who disappeared without a trace: They were found. Scared out of their wits, but found.  
And even a lake with waters that took lives: An unnatural explanation was found. 

Granted, the last one almost took Sam’s life just like it took others. The black swirl of the lake at night dragged her in. Something with sharp claws around her ankle and pulling, pulling, pulling her straight down into the depths of the lake. Her eyes open wide enough to see a dozen pair of hungry, yellow eyes staring back at her. Hair like weeds whipping past, and a set of sharp teeth sinking into her elbow. Making her cry out under the water and releasing any air she might have had left.  
She was ready for death when that happened. Eyes closing and thinking of just giving in because, at that point, she had thought that they had done enough already. She died trying to save others. A worthy death. 

That was what she had thought, clear up until there was suddenly Mike. Punching and scraping whatever was holding her and gripping her tightly around the waist when she was released. Shooting straight up and grasping her face when they broke the surface. Gasping for air in-between making sure she was fine.

_“Sam! I know you’re hurt but can you still swim fast?”_   
_“A lot…..faster than you…..probably….”_

One day later, upon their recommendations, gates and NO SWIMMING signs were put up.   
Still, despite the life-threatening situations, they were at peace. A few new scars, a few new stories, a lot more knowledge, and they were closer than ever. 

“Still feeling those strawberry pancakes Sam?”  
“Shut up. I still can’t believe I let you talk me into that.”  
“There is nothing wrong with being a pesco-pollo vegetarian instead of a vegan. And in case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t have money to but you shit to keep you healthy.”

She looked over at him and frowned at the smirk that took up his face. One indicating that he knew he was right and he knew that she knew. The class president never left him, after all.   
Still, she began staring back out the window. Pretending to be more annoyed than she actually was. Despite the faults that he had, he was a caring person under all that machismo, and he was supposed to worry. She was his partner.

“Anywho, you talk with Chris?”

He asked. Flipping the signal on to turn into an IHOP. _(With free WiFi, thankfully.)_

“He’s worried. So is Ash, but they’re trying to be supportive. Sending us money for gas in a few days.”

Her frown became genuine and deepened with guilt.  
Two days into their trip and Ashley had called her cell phone. Screaming and crying at her for the both of them to come back home and stay safe with the rest of them because she ‘already lost three friends, don’t need to make it five’! Mike had calmed her down and laughed it off alright. Even cracking jokes afterwards about how since Sam was gone, the job of Mother Hen was left to Ash, but the guilt still clung to her ribs. Threatening to break them from the sheer weight of it.

“Like we can’t take care of ourselves by now. I took down three monsters with a shotgun and a wolf!”  
“Not this again.”

Despite the feelings, a smile spread across her face. Getting rid of the mood that had taken over her in only a way that he could anymore.   
Her tone took on a teasing tint before she continued.

“For the last time, no one believes the wolf bit.”  
“You’re just jealous ‘cause of the bond I had with wolfie.”

He teased back. Reaching over to ruffle her blond hair that had gotten cut at his suggestion. The long hair that grew in the time after the lodge now just medium length again. In just a simple ponytail most of the time.

“You give yourself waaaay too much credit.”

Laughter filled the truck as they pulled into a spot. Continuing on as the light jokes continued even as they sat down and ordered their food.   
Then, it was work time. Phones out and tapping away to find out wherever the next “job” would take them. 

A hit here and there came up. Mostly on the email (which had been settled on eighteenfingers@gmail.com), one on a normal internet search, and a few on the reddit thread. Something that, after many false leads, she tended not to trust much anymore. 

“Do we really have to try that again Mike?”  
“Yup. I got a good feeling about this one okay.”

A sigh and she leaned forward after thanking the waitress dropped off their food. Deciding to humor the dark-haired man.   
Small chunks cut out with a fork and she stabbed into a piece. Holding it up and seeming to inspect it before plopping it into her mouth. 

“Okay,”  
She began with a mouthful.  
“Hit me with it.”

“It’s a forest this time an- Don’t make that face at me! It’s a forest, and this guy is telling stories about all the weird shit that happened in it because he works as a ranger there. Babies going missing and being found completely swaddled with food in their stomachs ten miles away. People with no faces, random upside-down staircases; it takes the Christmas cake.”

She stabbed another piece and held it up. Inspecting it again while she mulled over the words. Too many weird factors made for a made-up story. At least, that was what Ashley had told her once before when she asked about how to set up a horror novel. So it was likely that Mike was getting his hopes up.  
Again.  
And she’d have to endure on a ten-hour long ride in Deathtrap instead of finding something closer.  
Again. 

She barely registered when he leaned forward and snatched the bite from the suspended fork. Laughing loudly with a mouth full of food even as she splattered his jean vest with whipped cream. 

He won again. With laughter and smiles and- She needed to stop that train of thought right there.

But next time, she swore, she would get to choose the damn job!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for you're support! I apologize with a dialogue-heavy and eventless chapter, but I wanted to explore a little bit into exactly how close they were becoming. More for myself than for anyone else. 
> 
> Oh! And the remainder of this fic will be mostly focused on this one job. So no "monster of the week" sort of thing happening. And the job in question is actually going to be based after my favorite /nosleep/ reddit thread which can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/3iex1h/  
> It's in parts, but worth the read and upkeep. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading and please **PLEASE** comment. It means a lot. :'D

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave Kudos if you like this and would like to continue reading! Or even better: Please comment if you like what you've read! It really makes my day. Seriously.


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